Really, Really
by Taisi
Summary: There are a lot of things Leo really, really loves about Camp Half-Blood. Percy/Leo


There are a lot of things Leo really, _really _loves about Camp Half-Blood.

Sleeping in, for one, just because; for a runaway, sleep is a precious thing snatched here and there when you can afford it. Being able to loaf around in an actual _bed_ is wonderful, but he gets himself up early anyway to open up the Bunker for the early risers among his brothers and sisters. It doesn't even irritate him, the sleepy trek through the forest, because they were so sad when he first met them that any bit of joy he can bring them he _will._

Because he loves being useful, and helpful, and needed. He loves making people _happy, _and when his brothers pat him on the back cheerfully and his sisters twirl him around or kiss his cheek, he stands there with what's probably the goofiest grin ever, and no one even calls him on it.

He loves when his youngest siblings grab his hands and pull on him excitedly, begging him to come see what they'd made. They make him want to cry with their happiness and their adoration as they beam up at him, and he'll drop everything he's doing to follow them and be amazed at their creation, even if it doesn't work.

He loves roaming around camp when he's got time to kill, with nothing to do; because it seems like there are always people he hasn't met yet and seriously, at camp everyone's family! So why don't they act like it?

He loves being a part of a family.

He also really loves the forge; he poked his head in one day out of curiosity, and twenty minutes later found him heating and shaping metal with nothing but his bare hands. It's pretty much his favorite activity ever (even though it doesn't really count as one, Chiron leaves him alone about it, which is pretty chill).

There was a strange-looking guy there when he first realized his new talent, a guy with one eye and bad teeth; after all the things he'd seen, culture shock had pretty much worn off and he honestly couldn't even be surprised by it. And the guy had been really amazed at his power, excited even, exclaiming that he had power over fire too.

Which, woah, _awesome. _So they talked for awhile, and Leo was laughing hard at something he'd said - funny in its simplicity - when Percy Jackson walked in.

Yeah. _Percy Jackson._

He had choked on his laughter immediately, and Percy had stared at him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm, uh... Leo Valdez." It took a lot of self-restraint not to tack on a 'sir'. Percy Jackson was a _legend. _A legend with...really green eyes. "Cabin nine."

Percy looked at him for a moment, then glanced at Tyson. Leo watched his face soften a bit as he said, "Did you made a friend, Ty?"

"Oh, _yes, _brother, Leo is good." The cyclops went on to recount the entirety of their seven minute acquaintence in fifteen minute detail; while all the while, Percy's eyes warmed and a smile folded across his face.

He glanced at Leo, who immediately (for some stupid reason) stopped breathing.

"Most people can't see past what he looks like," Poseidon's son said bluntly.

Leo blinked. "Well that's stupid. I mean, look at Drew- she's the ugliest person I know, but you wouldn't guess that looking at her."

Percy laughed, and Leo's heart yearned with a sudden desire to _always _hear him laugh.

There are a lot of things Leo really, really _loves _about Camp Half-Blood. He loves knowing that when he's stupid and works himself to the brink of exhaustion, his brothers will be there to drag him from the worktable and carry him home, and that his sisters will be there to scold him and tell him to take better care of himself because- _"we _need _you, Leo."_

He loves always having enough to eat, and always having a safe place to run. He loves not having any secrets- people at camp know about his fire and they don't _hate _him for it. He loves being looked up to, and followed around by the younger kids in his cabin, and sought out for advice, even if he doesn't always have the answers.

But most of all, he thinks as Percy's head comes to rest on his shoulder as they sit on the pier behind his cabin, watching the setting sun color the waters, more than anything-

_I really, really love him._


End file.
